The value of collaborating and building strong partnerships with suppliers

Building long-lasting relationships with suppliers is at the top of the agenda for apparel companies. We touched base with one of the suppliers working in Delogue to explore how a PLM is beneficial for their communication and collaboration.

Among the macro trends reported by McKinsey, there are three key areas apparel companies are seeking to prioritize over the next five years: sustainability and transparency, the digitization of processes, and supplier relationships. All three trends often intertwine, as we discussed in our recent article “Responsible Business vs. Sustainability”, as being sustainable is integral to the social responsibility of brands – particularly the way they treat their suppliers and the influence of these relationships on the whole value chain.

Read more: It's about changing our mindset: it’s called doing responsible business.

Finding a balance with your suppliers

First and foremost, social responsibility is taking a much bigger role in the fight for an industry that needs to be more responsible and sustainable. As a result, apparel companies are under pressure to create transparency regarding their supply chains and to share that information with consumers – and that includes how well they treat their suppliers.

Part of improving the relationship with suppliers comes through the incorporation of digital software like a PLM, which will improve communication and make the product development process more efficient and traceable.

Read more: What is a PLM?

We met up with Gulsen Gieres from Yototeks, a supplier in Turkey that started using Delogue PLM when the Finnish brand Makia introduced it to its product development process.

How did you start with Delogue?

At the beginning, when Makia introduced Delogue, we were not so sure about it. But there were so many styles and it got complicated, so I started experimenting with the platform and realized how practical it was for everybody. You don’t have to ask around (within the company or to the customer); instead you look in Delogue, as all the information is there. We can see the entire history of a file and the prices, and when we have to send the photo samples, we do it via Delogue and there is less email communication.

What improvements have you observed?

We’ve always had a good relationship with Makia, but some tasks were taking too long – both for us and their staff. Now we can see immediately what they want and it helps us to avoid making mistakes, due to the communication, because sometimes they would send an email that couldn't be seen by our model departments or production department, and if we didn’t inform them, then it would get lost in translation.

Tell us how it works for you

Via Delogue we are aware the moment they place an order. For example, when they are making a new collection, first they are entering all the qualities they have chosen, and the colours they want to use, so we can already start providing the fabric. We can also start downloading the styles and making the embroideries or patterns.

What do you advise other brands/suppliers?

It's so easy! We get to see the entire comments history made for the proto sample, photo sample, SMS sample, and pre-production sample. We see the whole back-story of a file, and that is one of the main reasons I advise other brands to take on Delogue.

Currently we are working with other brands that don't use a PLM and it is more of a bumpy road, as we are writing emails regarding different subjects, and if I have to find something, it takes me hours to find the right email with the right information – and sometimes, by then, they've add information about another style in that same email! So we advise them to use Delogue – to make their job and ours more efficient.